Sometimes one gets the opportunity to dig really deeply during an interview. That happened  in my discussion with Morne Wilken, CEO of today’s new listing Attacq, which hit the market at R16.75 providing a quick profit for IPO investors offered the stock at R14.50. Its big play is in the Waterfall development between Johannesburg and … Read more
The seriously rich love penthouses. One Russian billionaire loves them so much he recently set a world record when forking out over R3bn for a penthouse in Monaco. Price-wise that makes South Africa’s best offerings appear positively puny. Stephen Pellerade works and lives in the rarified atmosphere of the super wealthy, building and selling properties … Read more
Cape-based financial advisor David Melvill keeps his friends and associates well informed. He often drops me a line about his latest thinking – usually supporting a bullish view on gold shares. His latest article deserves to be shared. Drawn from research compiled by Trinity Asset Management’s Quinton George, it focuses on the attractions of the … Read more
Good grades aren’t necessarily the best indicator of a great business brain. We tend to have a formulaic approach to our studies, which in turn means we aren’t sharpening our minds like we should be, says strategic thinker and executive coach Dale Williams. He argues the case for being less focused on the end result … Read more
The Vodacom/MTN duopoly must now be wondering how they let Alan Knott-Craig get into the other camp. As the founding CEO of Vodacom, he knows SA’s mobile business better than anyone. Now installed at long abused competitor Cell-C, he’s able to apply his experience and knowledge from a different angle. He’s also a clear minded, … Read more
Esorfranki CEO Bernie Krone (60) has never played his cards close. A straight shooting civil engineer who has been with the business most his career, I’ve experienced this up close. First when he came to visit after now defunct Sanyati had alleged Krone’s business had bribed officials over KZN Western Aqueduct project. And again last … Read more
This week’s UNDICTATED focuses on a very special man, the late Bill Lynch. A humble, undramatic, focused person, he was made in the mould of great business leaders immortalized in Jim Collins’ classic Good To Great. Lynch would make any list of SA’s top five entrepreneurs of the modern era. Indeed, he is the only … Read more
Hi there, Have been thinking a lot about leadership this past week. And how much business and politics could learn from the sporting world. It was sparked by last Saturday when our webmaster Justin and I cracked an invitation to the big rugby game at Ellis Park. It was a rare spectacle that lived up … Read more
If I were ever to leave the entrepreneurial way and re-enter corporate life, Johann Redelinghuys is the man I’d ask to help open the right doors. Johann, an industrial psychologist and partner at Heidrick & Struggles, is the country’s top “headhunter”. We’ve known each other for a long time. So when he invited us to … Read more
An interesting blog by a very interesting guy. Michael Marnewick is mad about sport, knows online publishing and loves to write. He has combined all three in a company which, inter alia, makes sure the website of  The Sharks is full of fresh information. Michael is busy completing his third book and in this blog, … Read more